Website Protection – NicheLabs, LLChttps://www.nichelabs.com
Just another Nichelabs websiteMon, 26 Jun 2017 16:44:38 +0000en-US
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1 Protecting Your Websitehttps://www.nichelabs.com/website_protection/protecting-your-website/
Mon, 22 May 2017 16:41:24 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2819Do you worry about the security of your website – and of every website you visit? You should. We do – and we take a number of steps to protect your website beginning with its development and continuing through its hosting. Those are things we can control to help you and your customers and clients […]

Do you worry about the security of your website – and of every website you visit? You should. We do – and we take a number of steps to protect your website beginning with its development and continuing through its hosting. Those are things we can control to help you and your customers and clients safely do business or communicate while visiting your website.

We’re going to discuss WordPress-based websites because a lot of our websites either use WordPress themes or are custom built in WordPress. WordPress has a robust, easy-to-use content management system (CMS) that allows you add content easily – words, photos, videos, links, etc. – and it has a wide selection of themes to help you find the look you want. You can customize the themes and navigation (though only to some extent) to give you the look, feel and capability you want.

As a digital marketing firm that can provide website development and hosting services, we can offer you additional security features to protect the integrity of your website. One of them includes how we write code for your site. Our developers “sanitize” code by testing and retesting the code in the templates and with any modifications they make to customize your website. We’re especially conscious of bugs with any plug-in we use that add functionality to your website.

WordPress has tens of thousands of plug-ins, and together, they account for more than a billion downloads. They include functions such as:

Comment spam filters

E-commerce platforms

Auction systems to turn your site into a kind of eBay

Security plugins

These plug-ins include a large amount of complex code, which makes them more likely to contain vulnerabilities. Plug-ins are by far the biggest source of new vulnerabilities in WordPress, so we pay particular attention to them. Our developers know the code and where to look for vulnerabilities, and they know what needs special attention. We also stay up to date on all warnings related to the plug-ins you use and make sure we install all the security patches and bug fixes on the sites we support.

We also use a variety of security tools, such as firewalls and scanners that can alert us to security problems and events such as denial-of-service attacks, which can cripple a website, and potential or actual breaches to plant malware or viruses.

By taking these preventive measures, we’re able to go a long way to make sure your website is not a conduit for hackers to inflict harm on your computer systems and on the systems of everyone who visits your website. Those are all things we can control on your behalf.

However, you and your website visitors need to your part, too, to keep systems safe. A lot of that is beyond our control and yours. Thus, we encourage everyone to take the following steps:

Keep your operating system (OS) and application software up to date. Install the latest versions and install all updates from the software publishers. Those updates almost always contain security patches and bug fixes.

Use strong passwords and change them frequently. If your password has an Upper Case letter, lower case letter, number and special character, it likely will take a code-cracking system several decades to crack your password.

Install and update anti-malware and anti-virus software – and keep them activated. Today’s software tools can also prevent you from wandering into an infected website.

Be careful about email – especially when opening attachments or clicking on links.

At NicheLabs, we consider ourselves partners in your website’s security when we provide hosting and support services. When we make your internet environment as secure as possible, we can help you with effective digital marketing campaigns. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy. If you’d like to start a conversation now, we invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending an email using our website contact form.

]]>NicheLabs Acts Quickly To Protect Client From Scamhttps://www.nichelabs.com/search-engine-optimization/nichelabs-acts-quickly-to-protect-client-from-scam/
Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:30:08 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2586When a scam sideswiped ChlorKing, it didn’t take money directly out the company’s pocket, but it created more than an annoyance in dealing with irate callers inquiring about a product they hadn’t received. The problem was that ChlorKing neither made nor sold the product – a cartridge for residential swimming pool filters. They design and […]

When a scam sideswiped ChlorKing, it didn’t take money directly out the company’s pocket, but it created more than an annoyance in dealing with irate callers inquiring about a product they hadn’t received.

The problem was that ChlorKing neither made nor sold the product – a cartridge for residential swimming pool filters. They design and manufacture salt chlorination systems for commercial pools and spas that replace bulk chlorine systems. But that did not stop the scammer from “borrowing” ChlorKing’s phone number for its own use.

The rogue company incorporated ChlorKing’s phone number into an e-commerce website and started taking orders by credit card payment. They also used an address in Norcross, and that didn’t raise any red flags for somebody who wanted to buy from them. When the items didn’t arrive at the expected time, duped customers called the phone number.

ChlorKing’s Steve Pearce, who was on the receiving end of the calls, phoned NicheLabs – at lunchtime on a Friday – to see how we could help. We took a deep dive into the scammer’s website registration information and found that all the personal information on the website’s owner and technical contact was hidden. There was no way to contact the owner and/or operator of the website to request they remove ChlorKing’s phone number.

We responded with an immediate solution that went into effect in less than three hours. With our development team on standby, we created a continuous message at the top of the home page to provide a SCAM ALERT for visitors. We knew they could easily use an Internet tool to associate ChlorKing’s phone number with its website, and the company faced the probability of having to deal with a deluge of calls to start the new week. The message tells visitors that ChlorKing has no association in any way with the website “saltpoolstore.com” and urges those customers to contact their credit card companies if they have not received products they order.

The solution greatly reduced the number of phone calls that distract ChlorKing people from doing their jobs. Pearce said the last call came in at the beginning of November and believes the message is accomplishing its purpose. He wants to leave it in place. In doing our research for this article, we noticed that the website is still live but without a phone number. However, information can linger for a lifetime on the Internet, and it’s likely that someone found ChlorKing’s number because the call was recently received.

Of course, with curiosity piqued back when the issue first came to light, we found a physical address associated with the rogue website. We traced it to single-family home, not necessarily a red flag in today’s home-office landscape. Pearce did a drive-by and reported it looked like an empty home. As of our last check, the website has a new address, a condominium in Dunwoody, GA. In Googling the address, we noted the second item on the first page was the rogue website. It says something for their SEO – but that’s another story.

By working with a responsive website support company, ChlorKing was able to put a message prominently on its home page to staunch the flow of phone calls that was wasting huge amounts of time.

In the meantime, the rogue site is still alive – and that points to how easy it is for scammers to use legitimate information to steal money. All they did was take a real address and phone number and put them on a website – along with an email address that nobody will ever bother to check. Once somebody does business with the scammers, they not only lose the money, they face the possibility that someone now has their credit card number and maybe access to other sensitive information.

While there’s not much we can do to protect people against their own lack of good judgment in e-commerce, we can help you – and your customers in areas where you have control.

First, make sure your website has complete contact information that is readily accessible to all visitors. If people know your customer service team is can be easily reached, it will help you get to the heart of any matter and avoid the problems that come with negative posts.

Second, respond with highly visible measures to help you protect your reputation. In this case, it was the continuous message. In some cases, you may need a separate page or a link to an exterior website. It’s likely that our response forced the website operator to remove the phone number from their site. In addition to solving an annoying problem, it may head off potential problems as Google starts to look more closely at quality and accuracy in its search algorithms.

Third, do business with a nimble, responsive website support company that can help you meet any crisis immediately and head-on.

We can help you maintain the integrity of your website and business by making sure you have all the messaging to ensure people get correct information. We invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending an email using our website contact form. We can help you manage your content and expand your universe with a granular-level SEO program that gets down to the specifics of your relationship with your clients and customers. We can also help you with an updated website and news coverage. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>We’ve Got Your Back for Website Securityhttps://www.nichelabs.com/search-engine-optimization/weve-got-back-website-security/
Fri, 30 Sep 2016 14:00:19 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2518From Target to today’s election campaigns, internet security is in the news on a daily basis. While there are plenty of things each of us can do to protect our identities and data as individuals and businesses, we use software from the industry’s top providers to protect the security of the websites we host. This […]

From Target to today’s election campaigns, internet security is in the news on a daily basis. While there are plenty of things each of us can do to protect our identities and data as individuals and businesses, we use software from the industry’s top providers to protect the security of the websites we host.

This is critical because a website can be a wide-open backdoor into a company’s (or individual’s) entire network. Once inside your network, hackers can find pathways to all sorts of interesting information that they can monetize. These can include all the pathways to where all of your customer, financial, proprietary trade and other information is stored.

The size of your business doesn’t matter because once a hacker has one door open, it’s just a matter of finding a pathway. And hackers just keep on trying. Every day, hundreds of thousands of new malicious programs are launched. That adds up to multiple new cyber threats every second, and they can attack access points on corporate, home and public networks, which are accessed over secure and open access points by a variety of devices.

Deploying the right protective tools can protect data such as payment information, patient information, end user credentials and contact information. For the security of our website hosting customers, we use a variety of technologies and software platforms that monitor and analyze traffic to your website constantly. They include:

A firewall application with backdoor protection, bot access control and the intelligence to analyze and classify all incoming traffic to prevent access to malicious and unwanted visitors.

An application to mitigate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which can be used to expose website weaknesses or bring them down to access sensitive data. We keep your business up and running at high performance to avoid financial losses and reputational damage, and it’s all done transparently.

An application to accelerate your website content so authorized users can do business with you quickly and efficiently.

Automated upgrade installations to make sure you have the latest security patches. This is most important because our platforms constantly monitor and gather feedback on all varieties of Internet attacks and develop patches to prevent hackers’ success.

With such an array of high-powered, automated tools, we can maximize the integrity of your website and every door it contains to your system. However, greater success depends on the cooperation of everyone at your company – and of your customers and clients, too. Here are some security tips for everyone to follow:

Never access sensitive files from unsecured public networks. That can include sales reps checking price lists or customers placing orders.

Make sure you install all upgrades for all of your application software. Most upgrades are security patches or contain them. Your IT managers or providers should have this all set up for you.

Keep passwords well hidden (not taped to a monitor or workstation wall) and change them often.

Use strong passwords that contain upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Longer passwords are better.

Back up your files and application software securely and have a disaster recovery plan in place.

With a secure website and with everyone – inside and outside your company – following proven security practices, your website can be an effective tool to tell your story and conduct business. If you have any questions about what’s in place for your website and how we can work with your IT staff, we invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. Then we can talk about the subjects we like best, such as marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

When changing your company’s name, updating your website just means replacing an old logo and name with the new, right? While updating aesthetics is one part of rebranding a website, website mechanics and search engine optimization strategies must change, as well.

Provider of commercial security solutions for more than ten years, Atlanta-based Remote Protection (soon known as Verified Security) possesses hardware and software expertise essential to navigating the ever-changing security market. Verified and certified by Honeywell, the largest manufacturer of security products in the United States, Remote Protection is one of a select group of Honeywell’s commercial security providers.

Atlanta website design and digital marketing firm, NicheLabs is working with Remote Protection to rebrand the company’s website to reflect its new brand strategy online. Two years ago, the security provider sought counsel from NicheLabs to redesign and develop its existing website. During their initial engagement, NicheLabs designed a custom website for Remote Protection, integrated the website into a WordPress CMS and enabled blogging capabilities. NicheLabs will once again partner with Remote Protection to perform backend website changes, including domain changes, website redirects and email addresses, as well as integrate their new name, imagery and color palette to reinforce the company’s new brand strategy.

For more than seven years, Atlanta website design and digital marketing firm, NicheLabs has created websites and online marketing programs for close to 1,000 mainly small-to-medium-size businesses. In addition to Atlanta, GA, NicheLabs has offices in Naples, FL and Charleston, SC, and serves clients locally in the Southeast, as well as companies nationwide. To learn more about how your company can benefit from online design, development and marketing counsel, please email NicheLabs at sales@nichelabs.com or call 888.978.9254.

]]>Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.https://www.nichelabs.com/website_protection/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/
https://www.nichelabs.com/website_protection/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#commentsWed, 04 Sep 2013 17:26:00 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=814“Cyber attacks cost small and medium-size businesses an average of $188,242, and almost two-thirds of victimized companies are forced out of business within six months of being attacked.”

If you are thinking, “That won’t happen to my business,” keep reading.

Small businesses are more susceptible to cyber attacks than larger organizations. Hackers take advantage of the fact that small businesses usually have less human and financial resources to dedicate to online security. If you think hacking will only happen to “them,” think again.

]]>“Cyber attacks cost small and medium-size businesses an average of $188,242, and almost two-thirds of victimized companies are forced out of business within six months of being attacked.”

If you are thinking, “That won’t happen to my business,” keep reading.

Small businesses are more susceptible to cyber attacks than larger organizations. Hackers take advantage of the fact that small businesses usually have less human and financial resources to dedicate to online security. If you think hacking will only happen to “them,” think again.

According to the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), “If cybercriminals can breach a small business and steal credentials (credit cards, banking accounts, email access, etc.), they can use that information to steal money directly, create attacks on your customers and work their way around the business ecosystem in other nefarious ways.”

Even if you are not forced out of business or don’t lose any money when attacked, your company can still be impacted. If your website crashes temporarily, imagine the missed sales leads, business opportunities, loss of credibility and employee unproductivity.

Now that we have your attention, we also have a solution.

NicheLabs offers website protection round-the-clock with WebsiteWatcher, a service that manages and monitors both your outer and internal networks. By continually protecting your firewalls, WebsiteWatcher prevents hacks into and information leaks out of your system by monitoring both your application and network firewalls. Using a web-based internal scanning service, WebsiteWatcher identifies existing and potential vulnerabilities within your website and protects you from incurring costs associated with restoring your system or worse: rebuilding your online real estate altogether.

Is your company safe?

To learn more about protecting your businesses’ online communications and transactions, email us at sales@nichelabs.com, or call 888.978.9254. As we continue to feature digital marketing advancements, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to receive alerts when new information posts, or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to read summaries of our monthly posts.

]]>1NicheLabs Leads WordPress Development for Medical Practicehttps://www.nichelabs.com/website_protection/nichelabs-leads-wordpress-development-for-medical-practice/
Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:12:51 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=771U.S. healthcare is changing rapidly, and medical providers are compelled to evaluate their online readiness for the nationwide shift to digital medical information. A seasoned medical provider for more than 35 years, Northwest Georgia Medical Clinic (NWGA) recently hired NicheLabs to convert its current website to a WordPress content management system (CMS). By implementing a WordPress CMS, NWGA will have full ownership and control of its website and will be able to make efficient, effective and frequent updates.

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In addition to redeveloping its current website, NicheLabs will also develop a secure, password-protected section of NWGA’s website. The medical provider’s goals in developing this secure area are two-fold.

U.S. healthcare is changing rapidly, and medical providers are compelled to evaluate their online readiness for the nationwide shift to digital medical information. A seasoned medical provider for more than 35 years, Northwest Georgia Medical Clinic (NWGA) recently hired NicheLabs to convert its current website to a WordPress content management system (CMS). By implementing a WordPress CMS, NWGA will have full ownership and control of its website and will be able to make efficient, effective and frequent updates.

In addition to redeveloping its current website, NicheLabs will also develop a secure, password-protected section of NWGA’s website. The medical provider’s goals in developing this secure area are two-fold. First, this portal will enable the medical staff to easily and securely share office forms and staff schedules. Second, this area will also serve patients as a secure portal for storage and access to their confidential medical information.

As major healthcare changes are underway, medical providers must also evolve. NWGA’s digital conversion coupled with its recent transition to an electronic medical records (EMR) system will enable it to improve internal operations, client service and website visitors’ online experiences. EMR systems enable patients to update their medical history, request appointments, ask questions and receive e-mails from their medical providers.

For more than seven years, Atlanta website design and digital marketing firm, NicheLabs has created websites and online marketing programs for close to 1,000 mainly small-to-medium-size businesses. In addition to Atlanta, GA, NicheLabs has offices in Naples, FL and Charleston, SC, and serves clients locally in the Southeast, as well as companies nationwide. To learn more about how your company can benefit from online design, development and marketing counsel, please email NicheLabs at sales@nichelabs.com or call 888.978.9254.

Government agencies, public companies, medical professionals, law firms and educational institutions nationwide have been relying upon Atlanta-based Premier Office Acoustics since 2004 to increase privacy, decrease distractions and increase profitability. They serve customers both proactively as advisors during the design phase of new construction and as providers of maximum privacy and productivity solutions for existing spaces.

Premier Office Acoustics, the market leader in creating, installing, tuning and measuring sound masking systems, has selected the Atlanta website design team of NicheLabs to build and launch its website.

Government agencies, public companies, medical professionals, law firms and educational institutions nationwide have been relying upon Atlanta-based Premier Office Acoustics since 2004 to increase privacy, decrease distractions and increase profitability. They serve customers both proactively as advisors during the design phase of new construction and as providers of maximum privacy and productivity solutions for existing spaces.

“We serve customers across industries, but no two projects are alike,” said Thomas Patrick, co-owner of Premier Office Acoustics. “We have grown our business by helping customers with unique needs, budgets, layouts and building materials. By developing a presence online, we can show prospective customers how we have helped others just like them.”

Tom Patrick and co-owner, Bill Schmidt, wanted to work with a website design firm that could help them leverage their existing customer relationships and offline marketing materials to build brand awareness online. Much like their own business model, the owners relied upon referrals from other successful businesses to select NicheLabs as their design partner.

For more than seven years, NicheLabs has created websites and online marketing programs for close to 1,000 mainly small-to-medium-size businesses. The company has offices in Atlanta, GA, Naples, FL, and Charleston, SC. For information about NicheLabs, please email sales@nichelabs.com or call 866.413.7952.

]]>NicheLabs announces new medical clienthttps://www.nichelabs.com/website_design/nichelabs-announces-new-medical-client/
Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:03:11 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=457Nezhat Medical Center of Atlanta, GA, has selected Atlanta website design firm NicheLabs to make their website more functional in meeting their needs by converting it to a WordPress CMS (content management system).

As a national leader in minimally invasive surgical techniques for treating women’s health disorders, Nezhat Medical Center also conducts educational programs to teach its streamlined and interdisciplinary approaches to medical students, residents, fellows and other physicians.

Nezhat Medical Center of Atlanta, GA, has selected Atlanta website design firm NicheLabs to make their website more functional in meeting their needs by converting it to a WordPress CMS (content management system).

As a national leader in minimally invasive surgical techniques for treating women’s health disorders, Nezhat Medical Center also conducts educational programs to teach its streamlined and interdisciplinary approaches to medical students, residents, fellows and other physicians. They needed a more flexible website that would allow them to make their program updates themselves on a recurring basis. WordPress will give them that flexibility.

In addition to converting Nezhat’s 46-page website to WordPress, NicheLabs will install and manage Google analytics, monitor the site’s security and host it.

When looking for a website design firm to do what her practice wanted, Coordinator of Medical Education Susan Kearney relied on referrals from other business associates she trusts, who said the company to call was NicheLabs.

]]>The Day GoDaddy Went Downhttps://www.nichelabs.com/industry-news/the-day-godaddy-went-down/
Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:04:48 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=102GoDaddy, which calls itself “the largest hosting provider of secure websites in the world,” hosts 53 million domain names worldwide, many of which belong to small businesses. Many millions more that host elsewhere use GoDaddy for their DNS service.

On Monday, September 10, somebody or something took GoDaddy down – and with it millions of websites and email accounts throughout the world. The many GoDaddy customers that do business only online and through email saw their businesses come to a full stop.

GoDaddy, which calls itself “the largest hosting provider of secure websites in the world,” hosts 53 million domain names worldwide, many of which belong to small businesses. Many millions more that host elsewhere use GoDaddy for their DNS service.

On Monday, September 10, somebody or something took GoDaddy down – and with it millions of websites and email accounts throughout the world. The many GoDaddy customers that do business only online and through email saw their businesses come to a full stop.

After about five hours, most clients were back online, but not without some ill will toward the company.

What really happened?

As an Atlanta website design firm with many clients whose livelihoods depend on their websites, we decided to look into this further.

Initially, a computer hacker in Brazil claimed credit on Twitter for the outage. In broken English, he claimed to have nothing against GoDaddy. But what about the millions of businesses and individuals he affected? Of course, he didn’t say.

GoDaddy blamed another cause for the outage.

In a letter to customers on Wednesday, CEO Scott Wagner apologized and said there was no hacker at all. The outage was the fault of an internal failure at GoDaddy.

“The service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables,” he wrote.

To make amends, the letter offered a one-month credit of service for each active website owned by the recipient. But it didn’t offer to reimburse customers for the business they lost during the five hours their sites were down and their email not working.

All mea culpas aside, we may never know the truth.

According to various news sources, Ira Victor, a security expert with Data Clone Labs in Nevada, trained in digital forensic incident response (DFIR), said any of three possible causes could have accounted for the outage: a hacker, an internal failure at GoDaddy or even a disgruntled GoDaddy employee.

In the end, we may never know for sure.

“The nature of many of these attacks is that they go low and slow,” he said, “and are very hard to detect.”

The point to take away from all of this is that website security requires constant vigilance and protection. No one is immune from hacking or other security breakdowns.

How secure is your website?

To serve our clients better, we offer a very affordable website security protection package, designed for the specific needs and budgets of small businesses. For information on NicheLabs WebsiteWatcher™, please email sales@nichelabs.comor call 866.413.7952.

According to a recent issue of American Express Open Forum, hackers are focusing more on small businesses than ever before. In the first six months of this year, the percentage of targeted attacks on small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees) was double what it was for the same period in 2011.

According to a recent issue of American Express Open Forum, hackers are focusing more on small businesses than ever before. In the first six months of this year, the percentage of targeted attacks on small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees) was double what it was for the same period in 2011.

Cyber criminals are especially attracted to small companies with large-company clients because small businesses tend to have weaker security than their larger brethren. If you haven’t upgraded your website security recently, please consider doing so with NicheLabs Website Watcher™, a very affordable security solution tailored to the special needs of small businesses.

For information and pricing on NicheLabs WebsiteWatcher™, please email sales@nichelabs.com or call 866.413.7952.

Choose happiness and success will follow

That same issue of Open Forum quotes a new book, The Happiness Advantage, by Harvard professor Shawn Achor, which challenges the conventional notion that hard work and good performance lead to the success that makes us happy.

Not so, says, Achor, because true happiness, a rational optimism based on reality, leads to the kind of expansive, resourceful thinking that makes us more productive, higher performing and more successful. Simply starting your day with a list of three things to be grateful for actually changes the way your brain processes your challenges of the day.